Government Operations committee  Yes, absolutely. As Mr. Dulmage said, we have to start thinking about binational standards, those developed jointly by Canada and the U.S. Agreement on standards is possible in North America. Work has been done in the area of electrical products, for example. Mr. Dulmage mentio

Government Operations committee  It varies from sector to sector. Take IT, for example. It's an area where change happens at a breakneck pace, and it's important to make sure that applicable standards adjust accordingly. Industry needs must dictate how frequently those standards are adjusted. That way, it's poss

Government Operations committee  In my view, cooperation with the council is positive, particularly around standards activities. It's not really about allocating areas to organizations but, rather, ensuring that they are taken into account, so that when there is an existing standard, organizations take it into c

Government Operations committee  Yes. A significant number of standards are indeed outdated, meaning, they have outlived their technical usefulness. A National Standard of Canada must be reviewed at least every five years. In the case of non-national standards, the review period can vary. SDOs have made a major

Government Operations committee  Certainly. The idea of an obstacle to trade always has to be verified. In other words, standards must not be an obstacle to trade. If we require something from companies in other countries and other provinces, we have to require it of our own companies. We must base our standard

Government Operations committee  I want to make sure I understand your question. Are you referring to the Standards Council of Canada or the Canadian General Standards Board?

Government Operations committee  Okay. The act was amended in order to change the council's operating procedure. I believe improvements have been made over the past two years, the purpose being to ensure that issues are thoroughly discussed. For example, when we want to establish a standard and another standa

Government Operations committee  There have been improvements in recent years, but much still remains to be done. Of course, there is the question of a budget. But we must still focus on the areas in which Canadians have a real interest in influencing the standards established internationally. To be in a good po

Government Operations committee  Yes. Depending on the subject, it may be the Standards Council of Canada or another organization. Countries are members of the ISO. Canada is a member through the Standards Council of Canada. However, they may delegate the secretariat of an international standard committee to rep

Government Operations committee  Let me clarify the concept of subcontractors. The members of the committees that establish the standards are volunteers. When I talked about subcontractors, I meant for checking the standards. Audits are conducted in order to check products, to verify management system standards

Government Operations committee  The Accreditation Canada system operates in parallel, in a way. An international organization develops standards for evaluating hospitals. Yes, there has been discussion with a view to building a bridge between the Standards Council of Canada, Accreditation Canada, the Bureau de

Government Operations committee  The standards are published. The people who work on the technical content of those documents are members of the standardization committees, with all the other members. So you must have a committee with some balance. However, we must not forget a really important aspect. The stan

Government Operations committee  That is an excellent question. The standards development organizations accredited by the Standards Council of Canada use a non-consensual development process. For a standard to be referred to as “consensual,” three parties must absolutely be involved. First, if it is a product,

Government Operations committee  Following that unfortunate tragedy, it was said that the manufacturing standards for tank cars should be changed, really improved. So there is already a consensus on that. The effort now should be for the industry to put those new criteria into effect as quickly as possible. The

Government Operations committee  Yes, of course, Mr. Chair. Actually, I would add that it in Canada’s interest to have a national system of standards that is quite prominent on the world stage and would also be harmonized inside the country. There has been some recent action on the matter I raised previously f